2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
3/19/2024 | 1:45 PM - 2:10 PM | Examining a family-centered ASL curriculum: Provider input and parent progress | Granite A-C
Examining a family-centered ASL curriculum: Provider input and parent progress
This talk shares the justification for and methods and results from two studies of the family-centered, routine-based curriculum called “ASL at Home.” One study used qualitative methodology to examine providers’ perceptions of and experiences with using the curriculum. The other used quantitative approaches to measure how much parents’ singing improved during and after an 8-week course following the curriculum. Using interview data from four teachers of the deaf, one speech-language pathologist, and one early childhood special education administrator, the former found many positive experiences using the curriculum including having a structure to follow in one’s teaching, the availability of the curriculum in Spanish, and the inclusion of Deaf Community Cultural Wealth (DCCW). The inclusion of DCCW was especially important for hearing providers who reported the desire to provide authentic deaf input in their visits with families. The second study, a single-case, ABA design, calculated increases in the total number of signs used and the number of different signs used during a baseline phase before the class started, over the course of the class, and a two-week follow-up period. All five participants exhibited substantial gains in the number and variety of ASL signs used and either maintained or continued to increase during the follow-up period. The effect appeared to be most significant in parents who came to the class with little to no knowledge of ASL. Taken together, these findings refute claims that ASL is “too hard” for parents to learn and support newer work which shows that if parents start exposing their children to ASL early in life, even with still-developing skills, deaf children are more likely to have age-appropriate language use. Further, they stress the importance of teaching routine-based language embedded in a natural environment, facilitative language techniques, and Deaf Community Cultural Wealth.
- Describe the structure of the ASL at Home curriculum and how it supports provider service delivery and parents’ use of ASL with their children
- Discuss the implication of providers’ perceptions of the ASL at Home curriculum
- Evaluate the ways that parents’ child-directed ASL changed after an 8-week parent-focused ASL class
Presentation:
3478265_16262LeahGeer.pdf
Handouts:
3478265_16262LeahGeer.pdf
Transcripts:
3478265_16262LeahGeer.docx
Presenters/Authors
Leah Geer
(Primary Presenter,Author), California State University, Sacramento, leah.geer@gallaudet.edu;
Leah Geer, PhD is an Associate Professor and program coordinator for the ASL & Deaf Studies program at California State University, Sacramento. She has a master’s degree in sign language linguistics from Gallaudet University and a PhD in linguistics from The University of Texas at Austin. Leah was drawn to linguistics after studying kinesiology in undergrad, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the relationship between motor skill and language acquisition in children and adults. She recently completed the Interdisciplinary Infants, Toddlers and their Families Collaborative Leadership Graduate Certificate from Gallaudet University.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Intellectual property rights,Other financial benefit for Ownership,Other activities from ASL at Home.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with ASL at Home.
Nature: co-founder: ASL at Home.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Razi Zarchy
(Co-Presenter,Author), California State University, Sacramento, razi.zarchy@gmail.com;
Razi Zarchy, SLPD, CCC-SLP worked with deaf and hard of hearing children ages birth to 18 for 12 years, particularly in early intervention and preschool. He has a clinical doctorate in speech-language pathology (SLPD) from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and has begun a PhD program in Education and Leadership at Pacific University. Razi is a lecturer and clinical instructor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department at California State University, Sacramento, and a lecturer in the ASL & Deaf Studies program also at Sacramento State.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Intellectual property rights,Royalty options or other ownership interest for Ownership from ASL at Home.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with ASL at Home.
Nature: Authorship.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.